To Find A Lost Brother (Rewrite)
by AkaNoKarasu
Summary: One day, Alex's little brother Ivan dissapeared. Upon searching for him Alex finds herself in a world full of pirates, all out to get the One Piece. Once she is titled one herself she has no choice but to run from the Marines, all while looking for her lost little brother. On the way she meets many friends, enemies and one mysterious swordsman. MihawkxOC
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1 Strange New Place and Time Race

A cold winter day.

A single white snow flake makes its way towards the ground, freely floating in the sky. The wind softly blows, causing the flake to sway and fly through a window, only to land on a pale hand.

"So pretty." Gasped a pale girl, her light blue eyes wide with wonder.

"Dory, close the window, you will catch a cold." Scoffed the girl sitting next to the hospital bed. Dory turned to smile at her friend, her short pale hair swaying slightly from the wind that was causing the temperature in the room to drop.

"But, Alex, it's so pretty. I wanna go outside."

Alex merely got up from her seat and leaned over the girl closing the window. Once seated again she took note of Dory's disappointed eyes.

"We will go next time." Dory restrained the urge to sigh. It's what Alex _always _said. And though her eyes were stern and she seemed annoyed, Dory knew better. She had known the stoic girl since they were children. Alex was merely worried for her health, but Dory wasn't, she knew she didn't have long, so spending it with her best (and only) friend seemed to her like a good way to go.

"Alex..." She muttered absentmindedly.

"What is it?"

"When I'm gone, will you do something for me?"

Alex didn't reply, but Dory continued none the less.

"Be happy with your life, smile more. Don't be so angry all the time. Go on that adventure we dreamed about as kids, go and see the world. See the world for the both of us, will you?"

Alex never replied.

...

_**One Year Later**_

Suitcase in hands Alex was waiting for her bus to arrive. It was already 10 minutes late.

She didn't _want _to leave, but everybody was telling her it was for the best. Too many reminders, too much time spend grieving. It was none of their business, Alex would always say to them when they tried to convince her, but even she grew tired. So she decided to leave, but she would come back, she wouldn't abound her. Not her. Never her.

"Miss, you coming in?" Green eyes looked at the smiling bus driver. With a tired nod she handed him the suitcase and climbed inside as he carried it to the back to put it with the other cases.

She gazed at the city one last time before the bus finally drove off.

...

_**Several Years Later**_

**Be happy with your life, smile more. Don't be so angry all the time. Go on that adventure we dreamed about as kids, go and see the world. See the world for the both of us, will you?**

Why was that all she could hear, that soft, broken voice. That smile on Dory's face. Why was it all she could hear?

_**Beep.**_

_**Beep.**_

_**Beep.**_

_**Beep, beep.**_

_**Beep.**_

Green eyes blinked open, met by a ceiling of pure white. As soon as her mind cleared, Alex looked round the room noting that she was in fact in a hospital. She searched her mind, but nothing came to mind as to how she ended up here. Her last memory was leaving her apartment to go to college.

"You're awake?" It sounded more like a question coming from the stunned nurse, but Alex was way too tired and sore to answer her. Besides what could she say anyway?

The nurse did a double take, as if Alex being awake was an anomaly and then quickly left saying she was going to get the doctor. For several minutes Alex could merely hear the sounds typically bound to hospitals, that of crying children, groaning and moaning in pain patients, not to mention the sterile sent that filled the room she was in. But she could also tell how sore she was, like she hadn't moved in years. It hurt to even turn her head to the side.

"Ah, Miss Arrington, sorry to keep you waiting. You gave us quite a shock, I already called your parents, they are on their way..." He trailed of as he noted her confused expression. "Miss Arrington, what's the last thing you can remember?" He asked, to Alex he sounded so careful, like he was talking to a small child, and frankly, it pissed her off to an extreme. Then _her _voice entered her head again.

**Be happy with your life, smile more. Don't be so angry all the time.**

Don't be so angry...

"I remember going out of my apartment to go to college, after that it's all blank." She sounded calm, not annoyed or angry and she felt surprisingly... _good. _Like an accomplishment was made.

The doctor frowned, which Alex thought looked hilarious on his wrinkled face, but choose not to comment.

"And what is the date today?" He asked as Alex arched a brow upwards. How should she know, eh, what was the last date she remembered? As it came to mind and the date left her lips the doctor frowned even more. He started murmuring to the nurse who nodded and left the room in a hurry. Alex chose not to comment, still in a trance, trying to remember what had happened that would make her land in a hospital.

When she asked the doctor, he avoided answering all together instead telling her she should rest and that he would talk to her later.

...

"I'm afraid your daughter is suffering from memory loss. It's nothing unusual in such a case!" The last line was just to reassure the two worried parents who gave him an apprehensive look. Alex' mother was the first to speak.

"Does she remember us?" It sounded almost fearful, but the doctor was quick to reassure her.

"Yes, yes, she seems to remember who she is and everything actually, until her last year of college that is. Her last memory was leaving her apartment to go to college, however we all know she graduated and disappeared for a year. It may only be temporarily, but she also may never uncover her memories. It all depends on her really."

Viktor nodded, the Russian man's green eyes finally leaving the doctor's frightened brown ones. Seriously, that man was one terrifying hulk of a guy. Sighing in relief the doctor told them she could leave as soon as all checkups were done.

"Auntie!"

The beautiful woman, next to the stoic man turned to find her husband's two nieces next to her, Akira and Amelia. She smiled at them.

"Hello you two, came to see Alex I assume?" Akira nodded and answered.

"Yeah, we would have come sooner, but we were caught up in _work. _Anyway, is she alright, does she know anything about..."

Akira was cut off by a shake of the older woman's head. "I'm afraid she doesn't remember the event of last year, that being said..." The woman trailed of when she saw the two girls got the point.

...

_**One Month Later**_

"Yes, and so I went up to the teacher and told him I wouldn't do it. You should have seen his face. Hilarious!"

Alex face was a mixture of amused and angry at the same time, at the story her little brother just presented. He was just in his last year of high school and the two siblings while they have grown apart over the years have still a good friendship going. Ivan loved to talk a lot and Alex didn't mind listening so everything was good.

But even her brother noticed the change that went on with his sister since she came back from the hospital, the girl's personality had significantly changed ever since she came back, to the point where she became practically the opposite of her old, stoic and cold, personality. Not that Ivan minded, but sometimes it did worry him. Her _new _personality had oddly enough a lot of traits that used to belong to her best friend, but nobody dared to call her out on it.

Alex shook her head, gave the boy a smirk and turned on the TV.

_"My fortune is yours for the taking, but you'll have to find it first. I left everything I own in One Piece.  
Ever since, pirates from all over the world set sail for the Grand Line searching for One Piece the treasure that will make their dreams come true."_

Alex raised a brow, but Ivan merely grinned.

"Alright! I didn't know they were showing One Piece again!" Alex raised a brow.

"_One Piece?" _She questioned the grinning brunette beside her. Her brother nodded his head.

"Yeah, and it's the episode with Zoro and Mihawk, my favourite?" Alex shook her head.

_Mihawk... Zoro? That does come familiar, but I can't remember from where..._

"Did I ever watch this with you?" She found herself asking. Ivan looked at her strangely before a look of recognition washed over his face.

_That's right; she has holes in her memory._ He thought to himself before answering.

"Yeah, we used to play together. Remember, that's why you took up fencing in high-school!" He said and watched her face hopping she would remember.

It was strange really, most of the time she could remember everything perfectly clear, then, sometimes she would just draw a blank, saying she doesn't remember things that to Ivan seemed and were very important part of her and his past.

Alex shook her head, her gaze transfixed on the screen as she watched that character with the golden eyes. A memory entered her mind.

"_I will be Zoro and you can be Mihawk!" Said the seven years old boy, the older girl merely grabbed an umbrella dropping into a stance._

"_Alright then Roronoa, you're going down." She said, falling into character, much to the boys growing delight._

"_We will see about that Hawk-eyes!"_

"Ah~" She said causing the boy to turn his attention from the screen to her face.

"Yes? You remember?"

Her smirk told him nothing good. "I remember you breaking mom's favourite vase." She stated matter-of-factly. He scoffed before grinning.

"Yeah, thanks for that btw. You got in a lot of trouble because of me." She waved him off.

Truth to be told, yes Ivan had broken the vase, but Alex also knew that the boy was already in her parents' bad book and that another slip up might cause drastic measures from her father so she decided to take the blame on her saying that Ivan could repay her one day.

"You know, ever since then I wanted to be better then you, not only in a swords fight, you do everything better. From your academics to sport I could never really catch up, but one day I will." He glanced back at the screen chuckling.

"In a way you're the _Mihawk _to my _Roronoa Zoro." _

She laughs petting him on the head. "Then I'm looking forward to you beating me one day, _Roronoa." _

...

Later that night Alex was woken up by a series of strange noises coming from somewhere in the house. She blinked her eyes open, waiting for them to adjust to the dark. Careful she dragged herself out of bed, creeping closer to the door. Now somebody might have garbed a baseball bat along the way, but after years of material art and sword training Alex knew she could overpower most people so she didn't both with finding a tool to aid her.

Instead she left her room walking softly on the carpeted floor, trying not to make any noise, to her surprise the sound was coming from Ivan's room,. Curiosity got the better out of her so she slowly walked over, seeing the light seeping from his open bedroom door into the hallway.

"Ivan...?" No response.

She crept closer to the door; another crash was heard, so forgetting all about being careful Alex stormed head first into the room, only to suddenly bee blinded by a white light, which soon faded out into pure black.

...

_Alex was standing in the middle of a graveyard. The scene strangely familiar to her, as she looked round she spotted a scene. People were gathered round a grave. A funeral she soon realised. She walked closer. As she looked at the gravestone and her blood froze cold._

_**That day, why am I thinking about that day...? I don't want to remember that... Not that day...**_

"Human..."

_Blink._

"Human, are you awake now?"

Three more blinks. Alex just couldn't believe it. There, right in front of her was a _huge, blue __**cat! And it was talking! **_

"Are you alright?"

Not to mention it was looking at her like she was the crazy one.

_Strange one, and yet, could she be...? _Thought the overgrown cat before nodding to himself.

Alex collected herself then pinched her arm, flinching as the pain finally settled. The blue cat looked at her strangely before glancing down and for the first time Alex noted that another cat was there as well. Now this one was an odd-ball too.

Aside from being much smaller than the first cat, it was red in colour. Well at least most of it, it had some black stripes on the fur on top of its head as well as stripped running diagonally round it's fluffy tail. And also had a white leg warmer over its left front leg, also with black stripes this time running down its length.

"Ah, hello there, my name is Etsu!" _She _stated happily jumping up from her previous sitting position and running over to stand right in front of the shocked girl.

"Uh... hello..." Muttered the woman awkwardly glancing from the red to the bigger blue cat.

"Etsu, stay with her, I will go get Suna." Etsu eagerly nodded.

"Alright, Katsumi-senpai!"

Alex just looked plain confused, still not quite grasping what the hell was going on. Not one, but _two _talking cats! And she had no idea where she was or how she got here.

"Uh... Where am I?" She muttered looking round. A peculiar smell flowed into her nose as a light breeze messed with the tall cat grass all round her. She blinked several times.

"You're on Neko Island of course!" Shouted the cheerful kitty as she bounced round the confused woman.

"Neko... Island?" She muttered in disbelief as the small red cat nodded enthusiastically, completely oblivious to the girl growing unease.

Alex swallowed before nodding to herself more then to the cat. _He said he would get... Suna, was it? Well I hope whoever that is can bring some light into this situation... _She thought while nervously looking round.

A few minute ticked by, nobody spoke, but from the corner of her eyes Alex could see that the small red cat was twitching in her sitting position, as if not used to staying still.

"AHHH!" Alex jumped back startled by the cat sudden outburst. The furry thing let out a childish scream before jumping up from her sitting position. "I can't stay still anymore, sorry" Stated the cat sheepishly before staring at her from under her bangs.

"Do you wanna play a game with me?" She asked innocently and for a second Alex saw a little girl in her place before the image faded back to the cat.

"I-," She was however saved by the bell, figuratively speaking of course. Down the hill Alex could see the big blue cat walking back up the hill towards her and the cat, followed by a small figure, barely taller from the cat sitting next to Alex, though from the distance she couldn't really make up the form.

As they got closer Alex was greeted by a peculiar sight. An old woman, barely taller than Etsu came jumping, yes _jumping _on her walking stick towards Alex, Katsumi lazily trailing a way away from her. The old woman had grey hair which was far longer than her short body and she was wearing a robe with what Alex assumed was a kanji on the front of it. What Alex didn't know is that the kanji spelled _SUNA_ or rather in translation, _Sand_.

"Hello there girl, my name is Suna, and who might you be?" Alex broke out of her staring to only realise that she hadn't given her name yet. Blushing in embarrassment she resigned before saying;

"My name is Alex, uh, it's nice to meet you, I guess..." She mumbled, obviously still confused. Etsu choose that moment to try and climb on her lap, so Alex missed the fact that Suna's eyes narrowed for only a split second before going back to looking like their usual sleepy self.

"I would like to know your full name child."

Alex blinked confused, but answered none the less. "Arrington Alex." Suna merely nodded.

"Well then, Arrington Alex, please follow me, we have much to discuss."

Alex could not argue with that.

...

"Your story, while strange, seems sort of plausible, if only because we were _warned _that something similar to this would happen." Stated the old woman while giving an assertive look towards Alex. The younger woman nodded, still a bit in a daze from the information she received.

_A different world...but how? _She thought, her mind racing up with countless possibilities.

Suna shook her head before sighing and glancing at the unruly Etsu who took to chasing Katsumi's twitching tail for entertainment, much to the bigger cat's displeasure.

"Etsu, why don't you show Alex round, Katsumi and I have much to discuss." Etsu nodded enthusiastically before mentioning Alex to follow her with a flick of her tail.

Once they both left Suna turned to the serious cat.

"Bring me the Den Den Mushi, I need to make a call." Katsumi merely nodded already having a good idea of who exactly she was going to call.

_That man... though, he warned us, but I still don't like him..._

...

Alex trailed behind the hopping red cat as she bounded round the seemingly endless hallways. When Alex first saw Suna's _house _she thought; _calling it a house is a great understatement. _And it was, it was more of a manor, really.

Lost in her thought Alex didn't realise that the eager Etsu had rounded a corner, thus Alex lost the small cat leaving her utterly confused as to where she was. She sighed before walking ahead, no use in standing round, she supposed.

On her way through this maze of hallways ne door in peculiar caught her attention, if only because it was left a creak open unlike the other doors. Carefully she peeked inside. It was a huge library of sort. Tall book shelves aligned the walls, stretching through the entire room, but that wasn't what caught the green-eyed woman's eyes, no, it was the round table in the middle of the room on which a few stacks of book were set and in the middle, on top of an open book, there was a small brown cat. Eh, if it was like the other cats then maybe it could help her get back to Suna? It was worth a try.

"Hey, uh, hello, my name is Alex?" Mentally Alex scoffed at her insecure voice, but chose to shake it off for now, instead concentrating on the cat which was now staring at her, or at least that is what she assumed since she couldn't see his eyes, much like with Etsu actually. And it was kind of frustrating.

"I'm Edgar, are you here to kill me?" Alex looked bewildered for a second before quickly shaking her head.

"W-why would think _that_?" Edgar shrugged, which made him appear strangely _human, _then again, he _could _talk so...

"I'm going to die anyway, just thought it would be today, looks like I was wrong..." Alex stared as a dark cloud loomed over the cat's head, a depressing aura filling the room. Alex sighed.

"Oi, oi! Relax, uh, Edgar, wasn't it? Do you happen to know how to get back to Suna... eh, not sure where she is, but...?" Edgar perked up at the mentioning of the old woman's name.

"Suna? How do you know her?" Alex shrugged.

"I woke up on this Island, then that cat, uh, Katsumi brought Suna, and she decided to help me I guess. Then she sent me off with Etsu, but I kind of lost her."

Edgar nodded. "That does sound like Etsu," muttered the small brown cat nodding to himself.

"So, what are you reading if I may ask?"

Edgar mentioned towards the book with his paw. "A book about an explorer who has sailed the Grand Line." Alex nodded before stopping to consider his words.

_Grand Line? That sounds awfully familiar, not sure where I have heard it, uh, why do I have the feeling it was recently? _Thought the brown haired woman with a slight frown on her face.

...

"Yes, it was just like you said. But, what do you wanna do with the girl?" Suna spoke through the Den Den Mushi sitting on the table in front of her, Katsumi at her side.

The expression on the face of the snail turned serious before a voice broke through. _"You will do the following. Remember that Eternal Pose I gave you for Roshi's Island? Give it to her and tell her to go there and meet the old man, I will come there to met her and explain everything as soon as possible..." _Suna nodded with a grave expression, muttering.

"Alright, as you wish, but she is no pirate or marine, she won't make it a day out on those seas." A sigh could be heard from the other line.

"_For now I am keeping her under surveillance and I have a friend watching her, nothing will happen to her, she can reach Roshi by going through the Calm Belt, I have organised everything, including transportation. Somebody from __**The Agency **__will pick her up tomorrow, most likely my sister, but we will see. That all you are concerned about?" _

"Yes, I will tell her what you told me. We will see how it goes."

"_Uh-huh, sure, call me if anything unusual happens, and thank you for your help." _Suna just sighed.

"For old time's sake, I still owned you a favour for that time. Don't misuse my good will _Tomo."_

...

**A/N**

**Hello again people, for those of you who have read the original story. For those of her who are new to it, hello as well ;) I hope this version is better than the old one, I'm curious about what you guy think. Do you hate it, do you love it, or are you like eh?**

**If anybody wants to be my beta, do please contact me :) I would be really grateful.**

**If you have any suggestion regarding the story, fell free to send me a message. Anyway, I hope I will be able to update this more regularly then the other version. **

**This version will be slightly more different then the first version, so if you read that one, just as a warning, however I'm planning to work out the confusion part from the first version. A lot of things were unclear and I'm hoping to fix them in this version. So, I hope I will do a good job :) As allway, I really appreciate reviews, so review :)**

**Your truly, AkaNoKarasu.**


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

Edgar's decision

"Ne, Edgar, may I ask a question?" The cat nodded.

Alex sighed. "You don't happen to know where I can get some cloth, do you?" Edgar studied her for a second for the first time noting that the girl was dressed in sleeping cloths. The cat's tail swished slightly before he shook his head.

"I'm afraid no-" Alex's frown causing Edgar to stop in his sentence. His face mirrored her frown. Sighing Alex shrugged her shoulders.

"Well, that's fine, I guess I will have to ask Suna… well, she did say she needed to discuss something with Katsumi, so, do you happen to have any books on swords?" Edgar took a moment to get over the drastic mood change in the woman when the subject of swords came on display. It seemed they cheered her up. His tail swished again before he answered her.

"Yes, third book shelf to your left, fifth shelf from the top, seventh book from the right." Alex raised a brow but didn't comment.

Following the instructions Edgar gave her she did indeed find a book titled _Famous Blades. _She grinned before pulling up a chair that was near the table and sat down in front of Edgar. If Edgar minded he didn't voice his opinion, merely resumed reading his own book, but not before noting that it felt _nice _to read in (silent) company.

…

"And this is the garden!" Etsu stated enthusiastically turning round to ask the woman what she thought of Etsu's favourite spot only to see that there was no one behind her.

"Oh no! I lost her! Katsumi-senpai will _not _be happy!"

…

"Why are you interested in swords?" Questioned the depressive cat when he noticed that Alex went to flip the page. Edgar knew how annoying it was to be interrupted in the middle of a page so he specifically waited for a good moment to ask his question.

Alex looked up with a small smile. "I'm actually more interested in wilding a blade then reading about them, but for now this will do to keep me occupied. Unless you know where I can get a good sword?"

Alex restrained a sigh when she saw him shake his head no. _Well, so much for having fun… It was too good to be true anyway, even back home I couldn't exactly get them easily, but having your father and grandfather in the police helped with the license. _She thought with a grin.

Edgar titled his head to the side as he watched the woman frown then grin stupidly while staring of into the distance.

_She is so odd… Like me…_

"So, Edgar you think we can go find Suna now?" She asked while closing the book and standing up to bring it back to its former place. Edgar nodded.

"Let's go." He said jumping down of the table.

…

Suna was still set on glaring at the now sleeping Den Den Mushi. Katsumi, who was beside her, sighed mentally at her antics. The old woman knew Tomo from way back when she was young and decided to sail the Grand Line. That man was a mystery even back then, now however… well, he was plainly terrifying to most people, Suna included, though the old woman would sooner die than admit that. It wasn't even that he looked intimidating, quite the opposite actually, he was very attractive, it was more what that man _could do._

"Etsu should have been back by now…," muttered the blue cat successfully diverting Suna's attention from her thoughts to the subject at hand.

In that very second the door crept open to reveal Alex and to Katsumi's utter surprise Edgar, Etsu's depressing older brother, who liked to think everything, was on omen for soon death.

"Ah, I take it you lost Etsu?" asked the cat. Alex scratched the back of her head nervously.

"Eh, kind of. She is very fast and hard to keep up with. Thankfully I found Edgar here so he brought me back. Eh, have you got any idea how I can get back?" The last sentence was a mixture between serious and worried. Edgar noted the change in her voice but didn't question. This woman was quiet intriguing.

"I talked with a friend of mine, he told me to send you to an Island on the Grand Line, there everything will be explained to you, and tomorrow somebody will pick you up." Alex nodded her expression blank of all emotions.

"I see… Uh, you don't happen to have any cloth my size do you?" She mumbled while tugging on the sleeve of her pajamas.

Suna thought for a second before nodding. The small woman jumped of the table, which Alex noted all the smaller beings seemed to do on this Island; sitting on tables instead of chairs that is. Mentioning for Alex to follow her, the woman left the room with Alex, Edgar and Katsumi following.

…

"Here, these are some cloth I wore way back." Alex nearly frown, imagining some terrible dresses the old woman would present her with. However, she was pleasantly surprised when she got a red sleeveless shirt and dark blue jean instead. Well, at least some things work out.

"Thanks, these will do great!" Stated the young woman enthusiastically as she went to change into them. Unknown to her Edgar and Katsumi both looked away. While they were cats they knew how finicky humans were about privacy, especially females.

"There all done! Uh, you guys alright?" She said turning round and spotting the two cats. Suna shook her head.

"Never mind them, come on, we need to talk about some things. There are a few questions I need an answer to. Katsumi, Edgar, we will be talking _alone._" And that seemed final as the old woman ushered the girl through the door.

Katsumi turned to Edgar. "You don't happen to know where Etsu went, do you?"

Edgar just sighed, used to his sister's antics.

…

A little while later Alex found herself back in Suna's office, the small woman sitting cross-legged on the table in front of her. Alex restrained from nervously shifting in the chair. Under the scrutinizing gaze of the old woman Alex felt everything but comfortable. Finally after a long moment of silence Suna spoke.

"As I already know, you have no idea why you are here and frankly neither do I. Nobody but _that man,_" she muttered through gritted teeth, but Alex was not one to make comments, unless, of course, she was trying to annoy the other person.

"Anyway, how skilled are you in combat?" Alex raised a brow at the odd question, which seemed so out of place yet right at the same time.

"Uh, alright I guess, I used to work for the police for a little while…," muttered the younger woman, deep in thoughts on what to say next.

Suna raised a brow. "Police, do you mean the marines?" Alex just stared for a second before an odd piercing sensation entered her head.

"_Welcome to the marines, Alex. Make your Grampa proud would you?" Alex stared, she was watching it in her own body, yet from the side line at the same time, like an odd memory that seemed unreal, yet like it actually happened. _

It only lasted a second before she found herself staring back at Suna, clutching her head in one hand, gripping the arm of the chair in the other.

Suna's eyes seemed to become even darker if possible. Tomo did mention side effect, Suna briefly wondered what the girl saw, from her confused expression and rigid form nothing good, assumed the older woman.

_What was __**that?**_ Thought Alex, her mind still a blur, like some strong wind messed up everything inside, jumbling up memories.

"Girl?" Alex head snapped up, noting Suna's gaze on her. She groaned, still clutching her head.

"I-I need some time… What is going on?" she muttered, her voice reminding Suna of the first time she entered the Grand Line, not knowing what she got herself into.

"If only I could help you, it's however, not my decision to make…," said the old woman. Alex didn't understand her voice and neither the message behind her words. The voice sounded almost regretful…

…

"Etsu, there you are. We were worried about you," mumbled Katsumi as the approached the small red cat. Etsu jumped up at the sound of her senpai's voice.

"Katsumi-senpai!" Shouted Etsu in glee before she noticed another figure beside the tall and imposing blue cat she called senpai.

"Edgar-nii-san!" Etsu's ears however, flopped down when she noted her brother's depressing aura was out.

"I thought you were dead...," he mumbled as a dark cloud floated over his head.

Cue giant seat drop rolling down Etsu's and Katsumi's backs.

"Nii-san...?"

Katsumi just shook his head. "Edgar, snap out of it. Come on, let's see if Suna is done with her conversation." Edgar perked up at that. Maybe he could talk some more with Alex she seemed interesting.

...

_**Later that evening**_

Alex found herself sitting on the couch in what she assumed was the living room. Suna said she had some more business to do, but Alex was sceptical at that, that old woman was hiding something and whatever Alex did see could not shake of this weird feeling. Half the time it felt like she was dreaming it all, the other half it felt frighteningly real. She didn't know which feeling she found worse.

_Everything is such a mess, one second I'm at home, the other I'm in another __**world!**__ How crazy is this? Maybe I'm still in a coma? Nah, that somehow doesn't seem plausible. But, how did I get here? I was asleep and then... Yeah, then there was that noise... I think I went to check it out..._

Her thought were in frenzy, trying to remember and piece the information together.

_Yes and then, Ivan's room..._

_Ivan..._

It was like somebody dumped ice water over her then cut of her legs. She felt numb then cold then everything all over.

Her little brother. That goofy, stupid and adorable _little _kid. Where was he? What if he was somewhere stranded, alone, in a strange world?

Alex nearly fainted, so many possibilities hot into her head at once it was nearly too much. Her head was hurting, her vision swimming.

"Are you alright?" Snapping out of her thought Alex noticed for the first time that Edgar was sitting next to her on the couch. _When did he get there?_, she thought with a sight frown. Had she really spaced out like that?

"I-I don't know, my brother...," she began to say but stopped herself. What use was it to worry when she didn't know where she was herself? Suna said that everything would be explained to her tomorrow, right? Well, then she would have to wait until then, no matter how hard it was.

"I'm fine," she finally said after a moment of silence. Edgar eyed her warily from under his bangs which always obscured his eyes.

"It doesn't seem that way..." Alex knew he was right, that didn't stop her from trying to deny it.

"Nothing is wrong, I'm just tired." And finally, as if her physical condition finally caught up to her mental state Alex felt a wave of tiredness wash over her.

Edgar saw the sudden change in her composure. His tail swished nervously as his usual frown deepened.

"There is a spare room, Suna had it prepared for you. I can accompany you there if you want to rest." Alex gave him a grateful nod.

"That would be nice."

...

"What is Tomo, eh, I'm sorry _Archangel _playing at?" Katsumi quickly changed the name when he noticed Suna's dark gaze.

"If only I knew Katsumi, if only I knew. He has no right pulling other people in his games. While I do recognise that he is trying to help the world and keep the balance, his ways are something I don't agree with. That man needs to realize that people are not his pawns. He can't keep manipulating others for his own means, even if it is _for the greater good._" Katsumi knew the old woman was talking from her own experience, but he didn't exactly know what happened all those years ago, neither did he want to.

"Still, he wouldn't pick just anybody. Somehow this girl, or rather woman is connected to this world. Maybe only _he _knows how, but still she plays some important part, or at least important in _Archangel's _eyes."

Suna nodded. "True. I get this weird feeling I know her from somewhere, or rather, her eyes are familiar. Like I have seen them somewhere before..." She trailed of unsure how to continue. Katsumi didn't question. He was merely there to listened and input his comment here and there and Suna was grateful for that.

"Either way, only time will tell if she can truly make it. Whatever he has planned out for her won't be easy, I just hope he learned from last time."

Katsumi didn't comment.

...

"So, Edgar can I ask you something?"

It wasn't as if Alex was bothered by silence, and neither was she one to always strike up a conversation first, but something about Edgar just felt comfortable to her.

"Yes."

"Why did you think I was going to kill you?" It honestly had been bugging her since he asked and he never answered her that time.

"Because death is close, you never know when it's going to catch up with you." Alex snorted softly gaining the cat's attention.

"That's stupid. True, you never know when you're going to die, but living our life expecting death at every corner seems like a stupid way to live." She muttered, unpleasant memories of a certain blonde haired and blue eyed girl invading her mind.

"_Death will catch up to me, sooner or later, but won't it catch up with all of us. I see no use in dwelling on it. What has to come, has to. Simple as that."_

_The younger version of Alex frowned. "Don't say such ridiculous things. You have a long way before then."_

_Dory merely smile, she didn't want to leave her best friend, but she knew that day was going to come, she just hopped she would have enough time to convince Alex that life was worth living for._

"Are you alright? You just stopped." Edgar found himself saying, but in his mind he was going over her words and especially the look in her eyes as she said it. He knew she was right, but Edgar had not found anything worth living for just yet. To him life was hollow, a long boring way until you came up to the end. Nothing more, nothing less.

Alex shook her head, riding herself of the images. They did her nothing good most the time. She liked to remember Dory, but only the happy moments, not when she was close to the end...

"I'm fine, just remembered something, it's not important..." It was actually, but she didn't feel ready to share such personal matters with a _cat _she just met.

"What is it you live for?" She was quiet startled for a second not knowing how to answer.

"I," she began," I live for a promise, for an adventure. I live to find myself, to find freedom..." She trailed of as she noticed him staring at her.

"I want to find a purpose, but..." He began, but was cut of the woman next to him.

She scoffed before a small smile painted its way across her face.

"There are no excuses, Edgar. If you want to find a purpose then search for it until you find it. Giving up is not a word in my vocabulary and it shouldn't be in yours either." She looked round until she spotted the room Suna showed her earlier this afternoon.

"I'm off to bed, I will see you before I leave?" Edgar mutely nodded, not daring to say anything. Alex looked at him for a second longer before turning round and walking inside the room, leaving the cat to his own thoughts. She had a lost to think about as it was anyway.

...

"Girl, wake up."

"ugh, don't wanna..." She groaned before rolling over in the bed. Katsumi sighed. Now he knew why Suna send him to wake her. Humans were so difficult sometimes.

"Girl!" Alex groaned before blinking her eyes open. Talk about Deja Vu.

It took Alex a second to realize where she was but once she did she knew why Katsumi was trying to wake her up.

"Time to leave?"

Katsumi nodded. "Afraid so. Get up and met me at the entrance, I trust you know how to get there?" Alex merely nodded.

"I will manage." With a nod Katsumi left the human girl to get ready.

...

Suna eyed the silver haired woman with a frown on her wrinkled face. Katsumi was sitting next to her and had a poker face on. There was basically almost nothing that could throw him out of tact.

"You're _his _sister?" The woman smiled, but Suna wasn't fooled. The old woman trusted nobody associated with that man.

"My name is Yuu, pleasure to met you."

Suna only snorted, throwing her head up high, ignoring the young woman's greeting. Yuu didn't let herself get thrown out of tact. She merely resumed smilling, waiting for the girl her brother tasked her with.

...

"Alex-san?" Alex turned to find Edgar walking through the door of the room she slept in, just as she had finished getting ready.

"Yes, you wanted something, Edgar?" Edgar's tail swished, a nervous habit he seemed to have, but Alex had also noted he did it when he was curious as well.

"I- Uh..." Alex titled her head to the side, smiling.

"Yes?"

Edgar sighed, he might as well just come out with it. "I want to go with you."

If Alex was surprised it sure as hell didn't show on her face. "Alright," she said. "But, why?" Edgar's tail swished again before he answered.

"What you said yesterday, about finding a purpose. You were right. I don't think I can find it here, however, so I thought I would go with you."

"That's fine I guess, though I don't know where I'm going myself. Are you sure you wanna drop everything and leave?"

The cat merely nodded. "Yes."

Truth to be told, Alex knew it would get him to think, she just didn't think he would make such a decision, but on further thought, maybe it was a good thing. She wouldn't be so alone and helpless, Edgar seemed to know a lot of things, so maybe he could be of more help then she at first thought.

"Alright, let's go and met that person who is supposed to explain this, shall we?" Edgar just nodded.

...

**A/N**

**First off, thanks to everybody who reviewed, followed this story or put it in their favourites :) I hope I won't disappoint any off you. I am here to improve my writing so if you have any constructive critic to give, I will be glad to read it :)**

**I just wanted to get this part out of the way and show the motivation of the character at the begging, something which I failed at the first time round. So I hope thing are clearer now. I realized it would be a bit stupid to send Alex of on her own, this time round I changed a few things, so watch out! ;)**

**Reviews:**

**scarlet rose white: Thank you, I hope you liked it :)**

**BloodieReader: Thank you! And she will, just much, much later in the story :)**

**ghostbuster03: I believe I answered that one, but still thanks again for such a long review :D**

**10th Squad 3rd Seat: Thank you I did hope to improve this story, glad you still like Edgar, as always he is my favourite :)**

**Jinxedpixie: Well, yes Suna and Etsu together with Katsumi were only mentioned in the first chater of my old version, I'm hoping to mention them more in this version. I sure hope that it's a good thing, none the lesss that's I think for you to decided. I'm just hopping I'm doing a good job at making this story more realistic and enjoyable to read :)**

**As always, reviews are my favourite thing to read, I'm not forcing you to, but as a writer on ths site it+s sort of the only **_**pay **_**I recive for my work so... :D**

**Yurs trully, AkaNoKarasu.**


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3**

**Talking with an **_**Angel**_

Walking out Alex was greeted by the familiar face of Suna, only her eyes weren't looking, or in this case glaring at the young woman, but rather at a girl, looking no older then seventeen, with long, flowing silver hair, reaching all the way to the floor.

Once the girl spotted Alex she smiled brightly. "You must be Alexandria, my name is Yuu." First, Alex cringed at the mentioning of her full name, only her mother called her that and even that was when she was angry at Alex about something. Secondly, Alex nearly burst out laughing, remembering that one scene from Rush Hour 3. Yuu, what a _peculiar _name, she thought to herself.

"Pleasure and its Alex, not _Alexandria_." The woman mumbled drily. Next to her Edgar's tail swished nervously. Yuu's smile didn't falter, if anything it grew slightly.

_What an attitude, Tomo will have his hands full with this one, _she thought smiling in delight of the prospect of her brother actually having difficulty with one of his plans. Alex did not seem like the type to blindly listen, Tomo will have to come up with a _good _explanation. That's for sure.

"I like you!"

Alex didn't know what to make of her, usually people backed off when she displayed that kind of attitude (just because she had a _change of heart _does not mean she doesn't pose some of her old traits as well). Yuu was a strange one, whether that was good or bad, Alex couldn't tell. While the girl didn't seem like a threat she didn't seem like a friend to Alex either.

Ever since she was little Alex has taken those feeling she got round people seriously, mainly because they proved to be true in 99 percent of the cases.

"I see..." She really didn't know what to make of Yuu, but as long as she didn't turn out to be an enemy Alex would endure her. Even Edgar seemed sceptical of the girl. Looking up at Alex he could see she felt the same way, but was less keen on showing it. Right now she was wearing a small smile, seeming perfectly at ease. Edgar could read people well, just by a little change in her posture he knew _something _was wrong, he just didn't know what and that in return made the cat himself tense.

Suna handed something to Alex, a watch of sort with a glass ball attached to it, in which esidence a needle, the whole thing suspiciously looking like a compass.

"Take care, and be careful... _very careful..._" Alex almost didn't hear the last part of the sentence as Suna said her farewell and went back inside. Katsumi gave her a respectful nod following after the old woman, while Etsu decided to make a whole scene about it and the fact her brother was leaving (Edgar had informed Suna and Katsumi that morning, Etsu to him was a whole other subject, he just knew she would make it difficult).

"But _why_?"

Edgar sighed, his tail swishing behind him. "It's just something I have to do, besides, you have Katsumi and the others to keep you company. I will be fine."

Alex could tell the small red cat was not satisfied with that explanation, or rather lack of it, but she seemed to resign.

"Alright. I will miss you Edgar-nii-san." Edgar's ears dropped flat against his head.

"Likewise, Etsu, likewise..."

...

Alex wasn't scared per se, but she wasn't comfortable either. Who would be if they were surrounded by a _crew _dressed in white spotless suits? Seriously, who could stay that clean while being on a ship? Even the ones mopping the deck were dressed in shiny white suits. Then there was Yuu, the girl was constantly smiling and not in a comfortable way either. Alex just got a strange vibe from her and as said while not dangerous it wasn't innocent either. Edgar on the other hand, didn't seem to be in a much better position than his companion either. The fact that his tail was nearly constantly swishing gave away just how nervous the whole situation was making him.

"I don't like this..." muttered the cat as Alex and he were finally escorted to a room by the ever cheerful Yuu.

Alex, who was sitting on the bed in the small single room, looked at Edgar before she let herself drop on the bed, Edgar jumping up to lay next to her head.

"I don't know, but something feels off. I guess we will know more when I talk to this _Tomo _guy." Edgar nodded in agreement.

When she had come on board Alex demanded an explanation, an explanation Yuu couldn't give her. Instead she only told Alex that her _brother _Tomo would answer all her questions.

"I trust your judgement."

Alex smiled slightly. "My judgment or me?"

Edgar's tail swished. "Both, I think." Alex was a bit stunned, but didn't let it show.

"You know, I'm gonna give you an advice I got a long time ago. Never trust people with experience, they don't trust anybody and neither should you."

Edgar titled his head to the side. "So, I shouldn't trust you? Or anybody for that matter?" The cat had an inner conflict going on, not sure what to make of Alex's statement. He calmed down slightly when he saw her smile.

"I didn't say that. Trust is a fragile thing, it takes so long to build, or in your case not so long, but it takes only a second to destroy. _But, _it gives you such a beautiful feeling doesn't it?"

Edgar nodded. "Yes, it's hard to describe, but-"

"You don't feel so alone anymore." At that Edgar smiled.

"Yes, exactly that."

...

"What is that t-thing..." muttered the brunette while pointing to a Sea King rising out of the sea in the distance. Edgar looked jumped on the railing before answering.

"A Sea King." Alex just stared at him like he had grown a second head.

"A what? That thing is huge!" Edgar shrugged his shoulders.

"Well, yes, they are supposed to be, but if my eyes aren't deceiving me then this one is actually rather small..." he trailed of when he sensed a depressive aura, turning back to his companion he noticed Alex laying on the floor hugging her legs a dark cloud looming over her.

"I'm going to kill somebody!" Her sudden burst of anger shocked Edgar, he barely managed to keep from falling of the ship.

"Uh...?" Poor confused cat.

Alex shook, her anger taking over. She glared at the sea before her eyes landed on the confused cat. That seemed to calm her down a bit.

"Sorry about that... can't help it sometimes. I'm just so confused." Edgar nodded, but didn't look very convinced.

"I see... Ah, you put on the Log Pose!" Alex titled her head to the side in confusion before following Edgar's gaze to her left wrist on with the strange looking compass found a home.

"Ah, so that's what that thing is called, I think it's broken though, the needle keeps twitching." Edgar shook his head.

"No, it's not, a Log Pose is a compass of sort, but it doesn't point north, but rather at an island. Normal compasses don't work in the Grand Line, so if you don't wanna sail round aimlessly a Log Pose is your only hope." Alex nodded while holding the thing in front of her face.

"Seems kind of fragile if you ask me, I hope I don't break it."

"Let's hope so."

...

The trip with the ship lasted about 2 weeks, two weeks in which countless terrible possibilities run through Alex's head, all concerning her fate and that of her younger brother.

"We are here! Please follow me, Alex-san and Edgar-san." While Yuu was polite that smile just threw Alex off each time.

Nodding the two companions followed after the silver haired girl.

Once Alex stepped foot on the island she took everything in. And the colour that stuck out most was surprisingly pink. Cheery tree as far as the eye can see, the pink leaves swaying softly in the wind. On top of a hill Alex could see some kind of building, but it was too far away to tell for sure what it was. Alex found it amazingly... _disgusting._

"I _hate _pink," she mumbled with a frown drawn across her face. Edgar's tail swished as he looked up at her, but he didn't comment. Though silently, he agreed with her.

"This is Sakura Island! Isn't it beautiful?" Asked the silver eyed girl while giving them a closed-eye smile. Alex threw a quick glare at the oblivious girl before shrugging.

Yuu just continued smiling creepily at her and Edgar as she mentioned towards a pathway. "Please follow me."

Alex just sighed before bending down to pick up Edgar, who was very grateful he wouldn't have to walk all the way on his own. His legs were a lot shorter then Alex's after all.

...

Arriving in front of the building Alex had to suppress the urge to roll her eyes. It looked like one of those temples the hero of an Asian action movie grew up in, in order to become a strong warrior. _How fitting, _she thought sarcastically. Edgar was astounded, he had never seen such a large building, and he thought Suna's house was big! Yuu lead them to the tall outer fence before knocking on the door three times. It was such a light knocking that Alex highly doubted that anybody could hear it.

Not even three second later the door slowly started to open. Alex raised a brow, while Edgar, still being held by the brunette swished his tail to signal that he was in fact, nervous yet again.

_She barely even touched the door with her knuckles! _Alex thought with a frown.

When the door finally opened all the way they were greeted by a girl with pure white hair, lavender eyes and a kimono in colour to match the above. Alex and everybody who gazed at her had to admit that she was beautiful, she had a certain grace about her, but what Alex thought was nowhere near these things.

_She looks like one of those creepy porcelain dolls, _she thought while giving the girl a suspicious once over. Edgar on the other hand thought she looked like an angel, which immediately set him in a depressing mood while mumbling about death soon to come. Alex restrained herself from whacking him over the head.

"Edgar, cheer up!" The cat just remained depressive and unresponsive causing the woman who was carrying him to sigh.

"Please...follow me... the master has been expecting you..." An unconscious shiver run down Alex's spine as the girl spoke. Edgar felt no better, only Yuu, who was creepy herself didn't seem to mind the unnamed girl's attitude.

"Well, then, come on!" called the silver haired woman as Alex with Edgar in tow followed after her.

...

"What's your name?" Alex decided she had enough of the silence. Seriously, everything round them was silent. It was borderline creepy. The white haired _"ghost girl" _as Alex had her named in her head, turned look at the older woman with emotionless eyes.

"Forgive me for my rudeness, my name is Akiko." It was said in such a voice that Alex thought for a second a little girl with no emotions, like a horror movie scene, was talking to her. A shiver nearly rolled down her spine, but she held it in, merely raising a brow in question. _Akiko _said nothing more as she turned round and lead the on.

"I don't like this..." muttered the cat she had in her arms. Alex could merely nod in agreement.

...

As Alex gazed upon the gates to the huge building that actually resembled a temple of sort, she couldn't help but feel small, insignificant and almost worried about her entire situation, but more so, she was worried for her brother. Where was he? Was he alright? Did anything happen to him?

She shook her head, no use in dwelling over things that weren't confirmed. For now she had an objective to talk to this Tomo guy and hopefully find out what was going on.

Suddenly, without any warning the huge wooden door started moving open and Alex and Edgar could only stare as the inside was revealed. _Yup, a temple alright... _Though Alex with a small sneer visible on her face, but it disappeared nearly as quickly as it appeared, but did not go unnoticed by the watchful (and hidden) eyes of Edgar.

The floor was white stone, as were the walls and columns around the room. Right in front of them was another huge door probably leading to more rooms in this huge building.

"Wait here." Alex had nearly forgotten about Yuu, having been too concentrated on Akiko to care. Now though, that the smiling silver haired girl had spoken she turned to her and nodded before she lowered Edgar to the ground. As much as Edgar wasn't heavy it wasn't necessarily easy to carry him round with her all the time.

With that Yuu and Akiko disappeared though a door on the left side barely noticeable as it blended well into the decorations on the wall, leaving Edgar and Alex to their own thoughts.

A few minutes passed with neither of them speaking, than finally Alex broke the silence.

"So, what do you think, creepy much, huh?" Edgar glanced up at her before nodding.

"It's like death is presenting itself in a cruel mocking twist-"

_WHACK!_

Edgar froze a little; it took him a couple of seconds to realize Alex had actually _hit _him over the head. He sat down and proceeded to rub the headache that was forming away with his paw. When he looked up at her he found her smiling at him, but Edgar knew better, she was just playing nice and happy and quite frankly she was really good at it. He didn't know even when exactly she was playing, but in the past two weeks they spent together in that ship he had gotten a good idea of what she was like, he liked her and trusted her, but that didn't mean he didn't know how she could get.

After their little conversation about trust Alex had opened up to him more, even told him about her old friend Dory, and he felt like he could tell her everything in return, but he also saw her dark side, if only a shadow of it. She told him herself how she used to be, so nothing about her could really surprise him. She was a walking mystery, but Edgar was no better. They were just two beings hiding their true selves.

"Edgar, remember, happy thoughts!" He just shook his head, a smile twitching at his mouth. Alex grinned to herself when she saw it.

_Mission accomplished! _Sure Edgar was still depressive most the time, but hey, it's what made him Edgar and honestly she wouldn't want him any other way.

"Yes, but you are right, something isn't right here." Alex just nodded.

Just then the side door opened again and out emerged Yuu before she mentioned towards Alex.

Edgar and her began to follow only to be stopped when they saw Yuu shake her head.

"Only Alex can go I'm afraid. Edgar why don't you go with Akiko, ne? She can show you to the garden outside!" Edgar did not seem very happy when said Akiko emerged from behind Yuu, silent as ever. Alex frown was even bigger than Edgar's.

"Why?" It was a logical question. I mean, why couldn't Edgar go with her? Oh, yes, he didn't know the whole story. To him she is just a crazy stranded human who was send somewhere by Suna. Now that she thought about it, Edgar was probably more insane then her.

"Just please follow me, _alone._" Her tone left no room for further discussion, so defeated Alex turned her gaze to her small furry companion, who already had his covered eyes fixed on her.

"Its fine, I will go with _Akiko._" Alex could tell he was no comfortable with that in the least, but hey! He was making an effort out be so she just smiled at him bend down and ruffled him on the head before following after the ever smiling Yuu.

Edgar's tail swished out of his nervous habit as he glanced at the devil... I mean _Akiko, _who watched him with an emotionless gaze. He gulped, before he noticed her turning round and starting to walk away. He followed, but not before glancing at the door Alex had disappeared behind.

...

Alex was shoved into a huge room, which appeared to be more of a library; the walls were lined with bookshelves, filled to the brim with various books. _Edgar would like this place, _she thought for a second before she noticed a person seated on one of the many tabled inside the room. Even though he was sitting down she could tell he was actually pretty tall, maybe even as tall as her father, an imposing man of nearly 2 meters height.

Walking closer she took in his face. She was a bit put off by how flawless it seemed; his skin was pale white unlike her tanned one. His hair was practically glowing shade of silver, unlike the now what appeared to be in comparison Yuu's shade of silver. His long hair was pulled into a low ponytail, causing shorter strands to fall into his face, only adding to his beauty. He had a defined jaw line, but his eyes as well as every other aspect of his face had a slight feminine edge to it, not enough to make him appear like a girl, but enough to unnerve Alex slightly. His silver eyes matched the hair, a devious twinkle present in them as he smiled at her, Alex didn't know whether to be put at ease by this or terrified beyond belief.

"Hello...?" Her own voice sounded foreign to her, it came out almost like a whisper. Whom she assumed to be _Tomo _smiled slightly at her in a reassuring manner.

"Hello there, Alex, if I may call you that..." When he was her nod he continued mentioning towards the seat in front of him. "Please do sit down, I had wanted to met you for quite some time now."

...

Edgar actually found the garden to be a pleasant surprise, and thankfully Akiko had left him alone as soon as they reached their destination.

Much like the rest of the island the garden was adorned with pink cheery trees, the blossoms falling in gentle sway to the ground as soon as a soft breeze went over the area. With the pink all round him it was not hard to spot the green haired woman sitting under one of the cheery trees, reading with appeared to be a book. Hesitantly Edgar moved to approach her.

...

"Well then, welcome to _One Piece!_" Tomo said cheerfully carefully taking in Alex's reaction. He knew what was going on the moment she clutched her head in sudden pain. The process was unstoppable, there was nothing he could do. The world of One Piece did not allow paradoxes.

Alex groaned in pain. The images just kept flashing inside her mind.

"_What's the One Piece?"_

_Her father gave her a frown._

"_You don't remember? Ah, I guess you were too little, though I always wondered how you slipped away from me that day, must have been your grandfathers fault, he did always try to drag you into the marine life too soon..." He trailed of deep in thought._

"_What day?" asked the thirteen years old girl titling her head to the side curiously. He gave her a heavy look, his gaze burning with unsaid resentment towards his next words._

"_The day the pirate king was executed."_

_The next scene showed a seven-year-old little girl with bright green eye scoffing as she listened in on the boring conversation some of her grandfather's marine friends were having. Suddenly she realized that neither her father nor grandfather paid her much mind. Her mother's father too busy with the marines, while her own father was too busy making sure that the other marines, lower in rank, knew what to do. _

_Her gaze turned to the sea of faces on her right. A small smirk appeared on the child's face before she slipped away from her family running into the crowd._

_She easily slipped between the feet of people and made her way to the side, just in time to see a large man being dragged away to the execution platform. Of course her seven-year-old mind didn't know who this was nor what he had done, or even why he was being dragged away by those marines, but judging by all the commotion people were making he was somebody famous or maybe just notorious._

_She soon grew bored as she couldn't see very well what was going on once he was on that tall wooden construction. She mentally cursed her height. It was all boring until somebody from the crowd yelled something about a treasure; Alex really couldn't hear very well, the commotion and sounds in the crowd grew. She grimaced. Suddenly afraid, maybe slipping away had not been such a good idea. She should have listened to Dory and stayed safe. Oh, dear sweet Dory, her only and best friend always knew better. Too bad she hadn't been allowed to tag along; otherwise Alex may not have run away from boredom._

_The response the crowd had gotten from the tall and scary man only seemed too fuel the disarray as a sudden feeling of fear set in the small girl. She fought her way out of the crowd trying to get away or at least gain some sense of where she was. In those few moments she had never felt greater terror of not knowing where she was. _

_A long while later, after apparently what was interesting up there passed the crowd started to part, finally giving Alex a chance to get an idea of where she had wandered off to. However, even with so many people gone the little girl still didn't recognise anything. She briefly remembered something Dory had told her awhile ago. It seemed fitting._

_**You would get lost just about anywhere if it wasn't for me.**_

_Alex had scoffed at that. __**Yeah, yeah, thankfully I do have you around. **__Dory's proud smile was still engraved in her mind. Oh why couldn't she have come along?_

_Alex hadn't even realized that she had been walking aimlessly until she found herself in an alleyway, she stopped, looked round and when she heard footsteps approaching quickly hid. She wasn't stupid and she did remember her father telling her that probably a lot of pirates where going to be at this gather as well. _

_She watched a tall boy walked by, but that wasn't what had her gaze set on him, no, it were his eyes, not the way he looked straight ahead, but rather the colour. Such peculiar eyes, she thought she would never forget them, but being seven years old you think you will never forget anything._

_She was found later by a group of marines especially tasked with searching for her, she had been scoffed, slightly yelled at, hugged to ear suffocation, but the whole day, she could only remember those eyes._

_Like everything else children her age see, it was not too long after that other thing occupied her head, the gold eyed man soon forgotten and pushed at the back of her mind._

Alex blinked her eyes realizing she had spaced out gain, her head still pudding from the extertion it just went through.

"What's happening to me?"

Tomo nearly winced, she didn't sound tearful or apathetic, not even man, her eyes were cold and indifferent and year later he would realize that this was the moment he had lost reins of the game and handed it over to the woman that would turn his life upside down.

...

_**Weather on the Grand Line- What and what not to expect**_

Edgar read the title of the book the green haired girl was readying before softly coughing, which actually sounded more like he was choking on a hair-ball.

The brown eyed girl looked up from her book not having heard anybody approaching her. Confused she looked left and right spotting nothing, another choking sound made her look down only to see a small brown furred cat sitting in front of her, its head titled in a questioning manner.

"Hello there, are you lost?" She nearly giggle thinking how silly it was talking to a cat. Now imagine how startled she was when the cat responded.

"Actually, I'm not. You however seemed to be lost in thought, that book any good?" he asked mentioning his paw towards the book she held in her hands. The girl was way too startled to answer.

...

"I'm being integrated?" she asked, her voice both shocked and slightly angry.

Tomo was a man known for keeping his cool and he certainly lived up to his reputation, even know he remained cool, merely nodding at her question. But he was slightly thrown of his game, he did not thing haki was in the plan of integration, clearly this woman was a lot more then he had originally bargained for.

"As we are speaking, I'm afraid there isn't much I can do in that regard except buying you time in order to fulfil you _task_."

Alex narrowed her eyes. "My what?"

...

**A/N**

**Well, I hope you enjoyed and that I'm doing a good job with the rewrite. On a gloomier note, the next update will take me at least two weeks so don't expect anything for a while. I have made a new picture for Alex as well as a profile for a new character I'm planning to add to the story, not to the crew they are all set like in the previous version, but I'm planning to make another OC crew for the Crow pirates to have more action in their life, heh, that sounded better in my head. Anyway, do please review and suggestions are always welcome! :D**

**Reviews:**

**ThexWhitexPhoenix: Thank you and I hope you enjoyed! :)**

**Jinxedpixie: Thank you I am planning to make this version different, not only the style of writting but also the story. And yes they are longer then the original chaters that was the intension, and yes I know rereading, I'm too lazy for that too. Well I hope you enjoyed! :) I like it when people notice the differences.**

**Thank you for favouriting, following or reviewing the story.**


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

_Sing on the dotted line_

Midori blinked once, twice, trice… Yeah, the cat was still there. Edgar on the other hand patiently waited for the green haired girl to calm down. He may have never left Neko Island, but he heard plenty of storied from Katsumi about how humans find it strange if cats talked. Though, Edgar found that silly. Didn't all cats talk? According to Katsumi, no, they did not, but Edgar could still understand them, even if humans couldn't.

"Did you just talk?"

Edgar's ears dropped flat against his head, he fought hard not to become depressed again.

"Are you alright?" Midori was confused; the cat just suddenly dropped to the ground a dark cloud looming over its head.

"Life is so cruel…"

The green haired girl did not know what to think.

…

"Come again. What _task?" _Tomo watched her reaction curiously, she seemed mad, even furious, but was restraining herself from attacking him. Something told him that if she did it would not end well for either of them.

"Wait, before that do you know anything about my brother?" Alex quickly said when he started opening his mouth. Tomo closed it quickly before he opened it again to answer.

"Your brother is the reason you are here."

A dark look flashed across the woman's face.

…

"Neko-san?" Midori tried to speak to the depressive cat again, this time he actually seemed to snap out of his daze.

"What's your name?"

The question took Midori aback, but she answered none the less. "Midori." The cat nodded in thought.

"I'm Edgar. You live here?" It was more of a statement then a question, but Midori found herself nodding anyway.

"Yes. Why, I mean, how… I mean…Ugh…?" Midori really didn't know what to say anymore. Edgar just titled his head to the side as she finally grew quite just staring at him.

"I came here with a friend of mine. She is supposed to meet someone here. I don't think I should tell you anymore until I speak with her first." Midori just nodded, that answered _some _questions.

"I see… Ah, you were interested in the book?" She asked holding it up feeling slightly stupid now.

Edgar nodded, ears perked up. "Do you have a library here?" Midori smiled and nodded.

"Yeah, want me to take you there?"

Edgar managed a small smile.

…

"What the hell do you mean with reason?!" snapped the angered woman while slamming her fist against the table for effect. Tomo just watched her calmly until she finally seemed calm enough to hear an answer.

"Your brother unknowingly struck a deal. A deal that brought him to this world in return." Alex nodded at him to go on. Tomo sighed while drumming his fingered against the table, Alex eyebrow twitched irritated by the drumming, but she was way too concentrated on his answered to make a comment on it. "He made a deal with two women known as the _Oracle Twins _they promised him an adventure, so he could prove you wrong if I remember correctly," Alex flinched slightly, her mind gazing over the last conversation she had with her brother, "anyway, they brought him to this world and in return he would find something for them."

Alex raised a delicate eyebrow. "_Find what?" _She managed to grumble through gritted teeth.

Tomo's face grew grim, completely contrasting with the smile she saw on him when she had first entered the room.

"_The Black Pearl." _

"The Black Pearl…" Alex repeated slowly jogging her mind to maybe remember something connected to it, when nothing came up she turned her gaze back to Tomo who watched her with hard eyes.

"Yes, The Black Pearl is not something that most people in this world are familiar with and if they are it's merely an old sailor's story not worth worrying about." Alex titled her head to the side.

"But, it's real?"

Tomo gave a nod. "Indeed, as real as you and me. However, not just anybody from your world can find it. Don't you wonder why they would send a teenage boy to get it when they could have pulled anybody from your world to get it?" Alex nodded putting a finger to her chin.

"I'm guessing you will explain?"

Tomo's smile returned to his face, though not as big as before. "Ah, yes, I will, won't I? What do you know about _Arrington James?_"

"Arrington is my surname, but I don't know a James I'm afraid." Tomo shook his head before she even finished.

"See, you may not know him, but he played a big role in your life and in your future as it seems."

"Explain." She ordered and Tomo obeyed not feeling like playing with her for the moment, maybe when she was in a better mood.

"Your grandfather had a brother he never spoke about, his name was James." Alex narrow her eyes restraining herself from making a comment, she wanted to hear this. "That brother got himself into a lot of trouble, to save you the boring details his family disowned him for his _immoral _behavior." Alex shrugged feeling bored and irritated.

"Yes, but what does that have to do with me?" Now Tomo smiled.

_Forget that, playing with her is a lot of fun, hopefully I won't push it too far…_

"What about you?"

Alex glared. "Listen here, you bring me here, tell me my little brother could be in possible danger because of two crazy women who are after a damn _pearl! _And then you have the nerve to try and play mind games with me?! Well not today, now care to reform your answer?" she gritted out through her teeth all the while her eyes never leaving his.

Tomo nearly pouted, so much for his fun. _She is no fun, then again, my personal entertainment is not what I called her here for._

"Only members of your family can find the pearl." Alex narrowed her eyes.

"Then why not simply approach me?"

The smile on Tomo's face spoke volumes. "Would you have accepted?"

Alex scoffed a small smile playing on her lips. "I would have told them to go shove it." Tomo nodded.

"You brother on the other hand is… How do I say this…?"

"An easy victim?" Tomo nodded thoughtfully.

"That's one way of putting it, but yes."

A fist slammed against the table. "So, you're telling me that they are using my brother like a pawn in their sick little game." She whispered out darkly.

Tomo just smirked. "Indeed, however, before you decide on anything rash, how about listening to my offer instead?"

Alex raised a brow leaning back into her chair while crossing her arms over her chest. "So it's an offer now, what happened to _task?_" Tomo just shook his head.

_She catches on quick._

…

"…and that one too." By the time he was finally finished Midori was standing with a whole stack of books in her arms which she carried over to a nearby table.

"You sure like books a lot." Edgar just nodded jumping up onto the table to open the first book.

"Yes, I enjoy them; their company is both comforting and advising." Midori didn't know what to make of that sentence and didn't bother to ask for further explanations.

Sighing she picked up the book she had been reading in the garden but had discarded onto a table upon entering the spacious library.

…

"Finding The Black Pearl is a dangerous quest, I can aid you, and our only hope is that you find it before your brother or the twins do." Alex nodded.

"Seems logical, however, I have a better idea, you tell me where my brother is and I fix this mess instead?"

Tomo's mouth pulled into a straight line. "I'm afraid it's not that simple, both the twins and myself work with a whole group of people, they most likely have him under heavy surveillance. I'm trying to get one of my spies in there to keep watch of him, but anything more and they could pull rush moves, like trying to kill the boy."

At that Alex froze, rethinking her situation. "But he is safe?"

Tomo nodded, his expression still serious. "For now."

Alex nodded thoughtfully. "Alright, for now I will play along, I take it you can bring us home when I find this pearl?"

He nodded. "The pearl grants you one whish, anything. You can wish to go back home."

"That sound about right. So, what's the plan?"

…

2 hours later

The ever smiling Yuu lead Alex to the garden to fetch Edgar and tell him of the plan, but when she entered the only thing she saw were cherry trees. She searched her mind before an idea came to her. She turned to Yuu.

"There wouldn't happen to be a library here, would it?"

…

When she entered the library the sight before her didn't even shock her. Edgar on a pile of books while reading a book. How very convenient. She walked closer while glancing at the books he was reading, all the while completely ignoring the green haired woman sitting a few ways away.

"Why do I always find you like this?" She asked teasingly as Edgar finally noted her presence.

"Meeting done?" He knew better then to play depressed the moment she came, even though he wanted to do nothing more than that, but a hit to the head did not sound appealing in the least bit.

"Yeah… Who's your friend over there?" She asked boldly pointing towards the direction Midori was sitting.

Edgar's ears perked up. "Midori, she lives here and comes from the South Blue…" He trailed of when he saw her chuckling before she ruffled the fur on top of his head.

"Easy, I just wanted to know her name." Turning to the girl she gave her a smile. "Yo, I'm Alex." She said while holding a hand up. Midori smiled shyly.

"I'm Midori as Edgar-san already said. It's a pleasure to meet you, Alex-san." Alex waved her off.

"No need for formalities, just call me Alex. Ah, and thank you for keeping Edgar company, he may not like to admit it, but he gets lonely with just books." Edgar got a depressing aura round him as he sulked. Alex chose to ignore him just this one time in favour of finding out more about this strange girl.

"So, what're you reading?" She asked pointing towards the book in the girls lap. Midori shyly held it up for Alex to read the title.

"Weather, eh? You interested in such things?" Midori nodded slowly. Alex smiled in amusement. "Shy one, aren't you?" The green haired girl blushed bright in embarrassment.

"Sorry!" She squealed. Alex laughed. "No need to. I'm not saying there is anything wrong with that." _Dory was shy when we first met… _She shook her head to get the unwanted images out of her head.

"I-I want to be a navigator, I think…" Alex smile, this girl was amusing.

"You think?" Midori squealed hiding behind her book.

Edgar watched this with confusion; she hadn't been nearly as shy when he met her, though that may be because he was a cat and a talking one at that. Then again, he had never understood human, though the only human contacts he had had were Suna a couple of her _ancient _friends and Alex, so he wasn't exactly an expert in that area, something he intended to fix over time.

"I-I know I'm going to b-be a good navig-gator!" Alex really didn't know why she was so damn nervous, she would have to ask Edgar for more information later, thankfully he is very observant. Alex found him even more observant then herself, but that was probably because she was so much round people that she dismissed certain thing as normal which Edgar noted not to be, all in all he was a great friend to have.

"Well, that's great, got anywhere special you wanna go?" She asked pulling up a chair to sit down in front of the timid girl. Alex watched her as she nodded.

"Anthemusa, the flowers on that island are supposed to be the most beautiful in the world." Alex noted how she didn't stutter once as she said this, seemingly daydreaming about what the island looks like. Midori gave a heavy sigh. "Too bad it's in the New World, a place I will never reach." She muttered disappointment clear in her voice.

Alex rubbed her chin in thought. "Say, how old are you?"

Midori blinked, the unusual question catching her off guard. "19, why?"

Alex thought for a second. _Younger then I though, then again Tomo did say I couldn't leave right away, perhaps… A navigator __**would **__be useful._

"Nothing, well, this was a lovely conversation we had, but if you will excuse us, Edgar and I need to have a long and boring conversation about my meeting, _alone._" She stressed the last word as Midori flustered while getting up.

"Sorry!" She squealed out causing Alex to laugh again.

"Nah, I'm the one sorry, but I really gotta talk with him in private." She muttered while gesturing to the still sulking Edgar.

Midori nodded. "Well then, I will see you later?" Alex nodded.

"Sure, I ain't going away for some time."She muttered with a smile.

Midori departed with a soft goodbye leaving the two unusual friends alone in the huge room.

"So, how did the meeting go?" asked the cat finally getting out of his funk.

"As fine as it could, I guess. Listen, you do know I'm looking for my brother, right?" At Edgar's nod she continued. "Well as it turns out he struck a deal with some dangerous people, I have got no choice but to work with this Tomo guy in order to get him out of trouble." She finished with a dramatic sigh while slumping into her chair, running her hands though her waist long hair.

Edgar titled his head to the side. "So, what's the plan?"

"We take a ship sail to the New World, find the Black Pearl and my brother and go home…" She trailed of realizing something. When she got back home, what would happen to Edgar? I mean, he couldn't possibly go with her, could he? She frowned slightly.

_I can't worry about something that hasn't even happened yet, I will take this as it comes along… _

She watched nervously as Edgar's ears flopped flat against his small skull.

"That sound… nice…" he muttered depressed.

Alex sighed before moving her chair closer to pet him on the head. "What's wrong?"

Edgar shook his head, turning it away from her, causing her to move her hand back, away from his head.

"Nothing…" he paused when he saw her expression. "It's just… never mind, it's not important. How are you planning to get to the New World, we can't very well go alone?"

Alex smile, she chose not to pry into Edgar's sudden depression, because unlike all the other times, he wasn't mainly playing it, he truly seemed worried about something and it didn't sit well with the woman.

"Ah, yes, we aren't leaving right away, Tomo wants me to go prepared, apparently he wants me to learn about a thing called _Haki _or whatever." She rolled her eyes as she remembered him rambling on and on how it was important knowledge that would keep her alive, blah, blah, blah…

"Anyway, after my 6 months of training are over you and me, my friend, are going on a little quest so to speak…" She said grinning slightly at the end.

Edgar's ears perked up at that. _She called me her friend… _

"It could be dangerous, they could label us pirates you know?" stated the cat wisely. Alex titled her head in thought.

"Tomo said something similar actually, hmm, now that I think about it I think I used to be a marine." Tomo strictly forbade her from telling anybody about where she was really from, but she an irking feeling she wouldn't be able to hide it forever, at least not from Edgar that is. She could however used her _newly _discovered memories as a decoy story of sort, though Tomo warned her. The longer she stays the more she will forget about her real home, and everything will be turning to her always having had a life in this world.

"Really?" He sounded intrigued. "Why didn't you stay with them?" Alex winced.

"We _disagreed _about a lot of things, to put it simply." Edgar merely nodded his head to show he understood.

"Where was I?" she mumbled to herself.

"I believe we were talking about how we were going to reach the New World. It's very dangerous, many pirates who saw the New World refer to the Grand Line as _Paradise _even though most people from any of the Blues claim the Grand Line in itself is dangerous as well."

Alex nodded before another memory penetrated her mind, the pain now a familiar stab to her head.

_Alex looked upon her 15 year old self, she was standing on the deck of a large ship, painted blue and white with the word MARINE printed on the side. Next to her was the familiar face of her cousin Alicia, a face she hadn't seen in quite some time._

_The older black haired girl smile at her younger version before speaking, "Hey, Lex, what do you say, you gonna stick with the marine, or what?" _

_The 15-year-old gave a scoff in return, her short brown ponytail blowing in the soft wind. "I don't think so, maybe I will stick round now, who knows, there are just too many things I can't understand about those __**hypocrites, **__you know?" _

_Alicia just sighed. "Right, right, you still believe the marines are hiding a terrible secret…" she muttered sarcastically._

_Alex narrowed her grin eyes, staring into Alicia's own ones, two eyes, the colour the same light green, the emotions behind them the complete opposites._

"_I don't believe I know, and they are not secrets they are obvious truths, the tenryuubito…" Alicia scoffed her._

"_Enough about that! You know we can't do anything about that! Our job is to protect people from scum like pirates-"Alex narrowed her eyes._

"_And turn a blind eyes to what those, __**those monsters **__are doing_!?"

"_Ah, there are my two girls!" Shouted a voice as the retired vice-admiral emerged from below deck._

_Alex scoffed folding her arms over her chest and turning away from her two relatives, obviously still worked up from the previous conversation. She did share the older girl views, albeit they were still very close friends, but as she was getting older Alex kept drifting further and further away from her._

"_Gramps," she greeted half-heartedly still not looking in their direction._

_Beak Peter was a tall and broad shouldered man that easily towered over most people (unfortunately for him Arrington Victor was taller) he held an ever grinning face when he looked at his two granddaughters (one biologically the other more in an adopted fashion, being the actual niece of his son-in-law, Victor._

"_Now, now Alex, is that a way to greet your dear grandfather?" She merely rolled her eyes when she felt his heavy hand on her shoulder._

"_Sorry, but I'm not in the mood for anything, I need to cool down," she began saying as she turned round and gave them both a nod, "if you will excuse me." She didn't wait for a replay as she pushed passed Alicia to go below deck, probably to the room assigned to her._

"_She will come around, just wait," Peter sounded so sure Alicia almost believed him._

"_Let's hope you're right gramps, let's hope you're right…" she muttered to herself, not aware that Alex was listening in on them from behind the closed door that leads below deck._

…

"Alex! Are you alright?" Alex blinked her eyes open realizing a worried Edgar was sitting on the table in front of her. She gave him a soft, but tired smile.

"Yeah, I'm fine, I uh, need to rest for a bit. I think I will go and find Yuu to ask her about our room." Edgar merely nodded while watching her leave a strange feeling setting deep within his gut.

_She is acting odd again and she zooned out completely on me and not for the first time either. Something strange is going on and I believe it has everything to do with that Tomo guy she talked to… _mused the cat quietly to himself before getting up and choosing to follow after his friend.

Meanwhile Alex walked disoriented thought the large hallways of this huge temple her thoughts a jumbled mess.

_What the hell is a tenryuubto and why do I feel such hate from the mentioning of a simple word I don't even understand?_

…

"So, what do you think nii-san?" asked Yuu with an amused smile forming on her face, but when she saw her brother expression it quickly disappeared.

"This woman is far more complicated then I had at first anticipated, even James wasn't so, so…"

"Out of control?" finished Yuu, not a trace of her former amused in her voice. Tomo nodded grimly.

"Afraid so. One thing I can say for sure, Arrington Alex will either save or destroy this world as we know it."

…

_**Pretty please review! :)**_

_**A/N: Thanks again to everybody for favouriting and following this story (or rather version of it). I seriously want to know if Alex seems better to you that is if I portray her more three-dimensionally for those who are waiting for Mihawk 2 more chapter until his first appearance. Chapter will probably be longer from now on, but I needed to get this boring bit of the story out of the way.**_

_**Reviews:**_

_**Jinxedpixie: Yeah, I know what you mean, I sometimes think it's wrong since I wrote the original version. Thank you for the comment though :D**_

_**Kitty: Thank you so much! :D I'm glad you like it :)**_

_**kage kitsune 14: There you go and update for you :)**_

_**desirae668: Aw, thank you so much! :D**_

_**Fruitlessberry: Thank you! I'm glad people are liking the rewrite I'm really trying to improve the story and character development :)**_


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